its very simple. people treat well if disabled people are their son or daughter else they will treat as shit. its everlasting truth all the time and no need to fire mythology alone.
On 11/1/16, avinash shahi <[email protected]> wrote: > In the CC, I've connected the writer of the article. Martand, please > go through the trailing responses. > > On 11/1/16, Vedprakash Sharma <[email protected]> wrote: >> So now, it is the Indian mythology, which is been wrongly targetted. >> Logic has good as well as bad aspect. >> Through logic, many criminals are saved in courts and many common men and >> women are kept in jail though they have not committed a crime. >> So we can find fault if we desire so, in anything. >> MahaBharata and Ramayana are no exceptions. >> But in Europe, history tells that the disabled were brutally killed as >> they >> were considered bad for society. It is not mythology but the real history. >> In indian culture, there is a stigma against disability, but they are >> treated comparatively well compared to other culture. >> >> Vedprakash Sharma >> http://www.musicalexpressions.myehome.in/ >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: AccessIndia [mailto:[email protected]] On >> Behalf >> Of Boopathi P >> Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2016 8:02 AM >> To: disability-studies-india <[email protected]>; >> AccessIndia: a list for discussing accessibility and issues concerning the >> disabled. <[email protected]>; brailleacl >> <[email protected]> >> Subject: [AI] Fwd: Indian Mythology Has a Problem With Disability- The >> Wire >> Article. >> >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: Karthi Govarthanan <[email protected]> >> Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2016 19:30:18 +0530 >> Subject: Indian Mythology Has a Problem With Disability- The Wire Article. >> To: "uday. ganesh01" <[email protected]>, sivaramanvvs >> <[email protected]>, pathisamy <[email protected]> >> >> Indian Mythology Has a Problem With Disability >> >> BY MARTAND JHA ON 31/10/2016 >> >> Mythology has taught us to enable discrimination against disabled people, >> portraying them negatively and telling us that they deserve it because of >> sins committed in past lives. >> >> Sanjaya meets Dhritarashtra as his envoy for peace negotiations. Credit: >> Wikimedia Commons >> >> It is said that one can find every aspect of life in the holy text >> Mahabharata and if one doesn’t find it there, then chances are little that >> one will find it elsewhere. But while it is true that the >> Mahabharatacontains elements of philosophy, life, war, intellect, passion, >> jealousy and treachery, one element is not discussed as it should have >> been: >> disability. The character associated with it is Dhritarashtra, who is >> negatively portrayed throughout the text. In fact, many believe that he is >> to blame for the epic battle between the cousins (Pandavas and >> Kauravas) because he adamantly insisted that his son, Duryodhana, should >> be >> king after him, instead of the more worthy Yudhisthira. >> >> Since very few people in India have actually read theMahabharata, the >> don’t >> know about the character of Dhritarashtra before he became king – an >> aspect >> that has been cautiously kept hidden. Both Dhritarashtra and his >> step-brother Pandu had a very cordial relationship. Pandu, being the >> younger >> brother, held Dhritarashtra in very high-esteem – and it was reciprocated. >> >> Both were disciples of the great Bhishma, their uncle who was also looking >> after the administration of the kingdom since there was no king on the >> throne at the time. Bhishma himself couldn’t take the throne because of a >> vow he had made earlier in his life. Since Dhritarashtra was older, he was >> trained to be a king, while the younger brother, Pandu, was trained as a >> warrior and lead the army and become thesenapati. Bhishma trained the >> brothers so the kingdom could go into safe hands. >> >> Bhishma’s idea was sage, because Dhritarashtra was visually impaired from >> birth and thus couldn’t fight wars. He was trained in administration, >> management, decision-making, delivering justice – all very important >> aspects >> of being a king, while the aspect of war was left to Pandu, who could >> militarily assist his older brother. As a team, they could have achieved >> wonders. >> >> But when Dhritarashtra was being crowned, Vidur, the young prime minister, >> who was also taught by Bhishma, objected to him becoming king. How can a >> blind man sit on the throne of a king, he had argued. How could the >> kingdom >> be a great empire if the king is blind? How could important decisions be >> made on the battlefield if the king is sitting safe in the capital? >> >> Nobody said anything to Vidur’s questions because a king with a disability >> was unprecedented. As a result, Dhritarashtra had to step down; his >> disability was taken as his inability. Denied his rightful place, this >> became a turning point for Dhritarashtra and guided the person he was to >> become. >> >> After a short period of time though, Dhritarashtra was made the king >> because >> Pandu left his throne and eventually died. It was only out of compulsion >> that Dhritarashtra was accepted as king. Had he been made king the first >> time around, he wouldn’t have been made as conscious about his >> ‘disability’. >> Now, he was a ‘sloppy second’, someone’s ‘reject’ and he knew this very >> clearly. Now the question is, when Dhritarashtra sat on the throne, was >> the >> Kaurava empire anything short of a mighty empire? Was the administration >> poor, were people unhappy, was justice not delivered? The answer is no, >> because Dhritarashtra had people like Bhishma around him, along with >> Vidur, >> who took care of the intricacies of administration. >> >> All the wrongs began to emerge later, when his son Duryodhana was born. >> Dhirtarastra wanted him to be king after him, even though Duryodhana was >> unworthy, simply because he wanted to ‘undo’ the injustice done to him. He >> wanted to ensure that his son wouldn’t be a ‘sloppy second’ like him and >> that’s why his son was raised believing the throne was his birthright. >> >> Nobody is born bad but it’s society which ‘makes’ or ‘breaks’ an >> individual. >> Our society just saw the bad person Dhritarashtra became, but turned a >> blind >> eye to what led him there. Since he was disabled, people who have >> historically discriminated against differently-abled people were further >> encouraged to justify their attitude towards differently-abled people. >> >> One may wonder what mythology has to do in this context. Indian society is >> deeply affected by our mythology and its characters. The illiterate know >> about these stories. The impact of our mythology is such that people >> identify with the characters and inculcate values drawn from them into >> their >> own lives. The depiction and characterisation of disabled people in Indian >> mythology is extremely negative and people have used the stories to >> justify >> their discriminatory attitude against differently-abled people. >> >> The case of Dhritarashtra is not just about a disabled person has been >> depicted in poor light. If one looks at the Ramayana, the character of >> Manthara has also been demonised to a great extent. In fact, she has >> largely >> been blamed for sending Rama on exile for 14 years. Manthara was the maid >> of >> the queen, Kaikeyi, and is seen as instrumental in convincing the queen to >> ask Dasharatha to grant her the two boons that he had promised her a long >> time ago. Under Manthara’s influence, Kaikeyi asked the king to make his >> son >> Bharat the next king of Ayodhaya instead of Rama. >> However, some folktales point out how Manthara didn’t have anything to >> gain >> by sending Ram to exile. Instead, she suffered heavy public scrutiny that >> linked her character to her orthopaedic disability, because of which she >> couldn’t stand erect. >> >> Mostly, our mythological texts have shown disabled people either as >> powerful, cunning and mischievous characters or as beggars in a state of >> extreme pain and poverty. Also, disability and mocking disability is >> justified in the name of sins carried from their previous births. Rarely >> can >> one encounter disabled characters in a positive light. One such character >> was Ashtavakra, who was physically disabled since birth. Born in a Brahmin >> family, he mastered the Vedasand other holy scriptures at an early age. He >> was mocked by the intellectuals in King Janaka’s court on account of his >> disability, where he had gone to participate in a >> shastrartha(philosophical >> debate). >> >> Ultimately, he defeated his mockers and earned a lot of praise from >> everyone. But this story from the Chandogya Upanishad sets a dangerous >> precedent, if observed carefully. The subtext is that if you are >> intellectually capable, your physical disability doesn’t matter. Then, if >> a >> disabled person is not an intellectual, does it gives others the right to >> mock his or her disability? The moral seems to be that a disabled person >> has >> to be extraordinary to earn basic respect, a phenomenon that continues >> today. >> >> The time has come to ask tough questions, to point out the wrong messages >> which have been disseminated by these texts and to re-interpret these >> texts >> in the light of the present day situations so that differently-abled >> people >> are not judged by the wrong morals of our mythological texts that relegate >> disability and disabled people to negativity. >> >> In "Rights" >> Categories: Rights >> >> Tagged as: Chandogya Upanishad,disability rights, Mahabharata,mythology, >> Pandavas and Kauravas,Ramayana. >> >> The Wire is published by the Foundation for Independent Journalism, a >> not-for-profit company registered under Section 8. >> >> The Wire’s journalism is partly fundedby the Independent and Public >> Spirited >> Media Foundation. >> >> >> >> -- >> Regards >> Boopathi P >> PhD research scholar, >> department of English Literature, >> School of literary studies, >> EFL University. >> Hyderabad-500007 >> India. >> Mobile: +91-9843693951 >> >> >> Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of >> mobile phones / Tabs on: >> http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in >> >> >> Search for old postings at: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> >> To unsubscribe send a message to >> [email protected] >> with the subject unsubscribe. >> >> To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, >> please >> visit the list home page at >> http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in >> >> >> Disclaimer: >> 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of >> the >> person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; >> >> 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails >> sent through this mailing list.. >> >> >> --- >> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. >> https://www.avast.com/antivirus >> >> >> >> Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of >> mobile phones / Tabs on: >> http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in >> >> >> Search for old postings at: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> >> To unsubscribe send a message to >> [email protected] >> with the subject unsubscribe. >> >> To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, >> please >> visit the list home page at >> http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in >> >> >> Disclaimer: >> 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of >> the >> person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; >> >> 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails >> sent through this mailing list.. >> > > > -- > Avinash Shahi > Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU > > > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of > mobile phones / Tabs on: > http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the > person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. > -- nothing is difficult unless you make it appear so. r. aravind, Assistant manager Department of sales bank of baroda retail loan factory, Chennai. mobile no: +91 9940369593, 9710945613. email id : [email protected], [email protected]. Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
